US suspends defence talks with Pakistan: Pentagon

[roadrunner]

A Pakistani General is worth Rs 500 million! = $8.268218 million or $8.2 million

Posted on June 8, 2007 by Nita
An online interview with Dr. Ayesha Siddiqa-Agha has revealed that Pakistani Generals are worth Rs 500 million each. In this interview, conducted by despardes.com’s Editor-in-Chief Irshad Salim, Dr. Siddiqa tells us how the Pakistani military establishment has systematically looted the country. That they are no more than thieves. No wonder Ayesha Siddiqa-Agha’s book Military Inc.: Inside Pakistan’s Military Economy has been banned in Pakistan.

Its not just the book, Musharaff has come down on the media with a heavy hand, which makes one suspect that the media was never really free in the first place. People protested and now Musharaff has decided not to go ahead with the ordinance that would have muzzled the freedom of the electronic media. But I can’t help feeling that this climbdown is an eyewash and that he has come to some sort of agreement with the media…he will give some concessions in return for some sort of self censorship.

After reading Ayesha Siddiqa-Agha’s interview one realises how much the General has to hide. And I must thank one of my readers for directing me to this interview. He lives in the US.

In her book Ayesha Siddiqa-Agha has written about Pakistani military business operations. From her experience in working as a civil servant in Pakistan she found out that the Pakistani army has amassed great wealth and that the military has become “predatory engaging in political and economic predation.”

One way its been done is by amassing land. 10 percent of all land, according to the 1912 Colonization of Land Act, is allotted to the military. On paper this land is meant for operational purposes only, but apparently the land has been misappropriated and used as personal land.

Dr. Siddiqa has accused the Pakistan army of running a complete ’side economy’ which includes not just real estate, but also ‘ businesses done by subsidiaries, organizations and individuals.” According to her, this economy could be around 4% of GDP and their share in private sector assets is about 7-10 percent. In crores this is worth about Rs 200 billion and this is not counting the real estate. This is the largest ownership by any single group.

But why should the Army do this? To keep it financially independent! Being dependent on civilian sources for finances is risky if the Army wants to remain in power. Its a vicious circle. They needed the financial autonomy to stick to power and then the financial motive became a strong reason to stay in power. Dr. Siddiqa says that a full general is worth Rs 500 million (Rs. 50 crore) plus (say £5 million or US$9.8 million).

That was just the gist of her interview. For more details you can read here.

The lady’s background:

Her Brief Bio:
She did her doctorate from King’s College, London in 1996 and has worked on issues varying from military expenditure, defence decision-making, nuclear deterrence, arms procurement, arms production to civil-military relations in South Asia. She is also a Ford Fellow and more recently Pakistan Scholar at t he Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars.
She began her professional career with the Pakistan navy as the Director of Naval Research, making her the first civilian and woman to work at that position in Pakistan’s defence establishment. She writes for various international journals such as: Journal of Asian Affairs, Journal of the European Institute of Asian Studies, Jane’s Defence Weekly and the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. Her major publication to date is the book Pakistan’s Arms Procurement and Military Buildup, 1979-99: In Search of a Policy (Palgrave Press, 2001).

The commentator who sent me this interview adds:

1· Start a movement to oust the ARMY from political power.
2· Create a method to elect an honest leadership both in PPP, Muslim League, MQM, and other parties.
3· Have proper elections.
4· Control the asset distribution by the ARMY Mafia. A proper regulated system should be devised.
5· Control the Assets of the Fauji Foundation and open the books to proper audit.
6· Perks such as land, plot gifts should be controlled or perhaps banned.
7· Make laws of severe punishment for the Generals to stop them from taking political power and that their prime duty should be Defense ALONE.
8· Start investigations into the lootings by the Army Generals especially the Core Commanders (including the millionaire Core Commander Lahore who has benefited most recently).

Good grief..I don't know what to say. You're without doubt the most whacked out person I ever met on here. How old are you, seriously?

LET US ASSUME that your article is 100% factual, it says that Pakistan generals are WORTH $8 million. This does not mean they are paid $8 million a year This means they have a NET WORTH OF $8 million dollars, which for the upper elite of a country, is not huge (Bhutto's wealth stretches into the billions..just look at her Swiss Bank accounts).

Now, look at your source :

A Pakistani General is worth Rs 500 million! « A wide angle view of India

It's a blogspot by an Indian called "Nita". You don't even know whether that is true what she wrote!

Let's assume it's true though. What are "Dr Siddiqa's" sources? To make the accusation that the military are using operational lands for personal use, is just pointing the finger..I could point the finger at you, and say you have no 3 eyes..It does not mean it is true in the slightest. The charges against Bhutto have been PROVEN. That's the difference between the accusations against the military, and the accusations against Bhutto. Here is just one of the solid pieces of evidence against Bhutto's corruption. You do not have something like this on the military, yet you have no qualms in "Islamically" pointing the finger with no proof:

BBC News | South Asia | Poland linked to Bhutto corruption charge

I know, I know..the Polish government, and all the Swiss Banks are lying!

 

[Keysersoze]

Its really a grain of salt, after all the US has a defence budget of 553 billion dollars and they have already spent billions of dollars on the war, buying a general would just be a bargain.

No clue at all huh? in case you haven't noticed the Govt of America has to explain where the budget goes.....

The money you claim is used to buy generals is funding for equipment which is done under EDA.And it is all accounted for.

Now the next question is how much to buy a Bhutto? I understand it is around ten percent of a deal......Corrupt joke politicians are the traitors....(she was treated with derision (on TV) with some of the crap she was coming out with)

BTW PM me the areas of Pakistan you claim to have gone to as i am interested where I need to go to get a warped view of the world.

 

[Always Neutral]

US suspends defence talks with Pakistan: Pentagon
13 hours ago

BEIJING (AFP) — The United States has suspended annual defence talks with Pakistan because of the political situation there, the Pentagon's spokesman said here Monday.

Eric Edelman, undersecretary of defence for policy, was supposed to head a US delegation to the two-day talks scheduled to open Tuesday, but will not go until political conditions improve, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said.

"These are important bilateral meetings that require an atmosphere in which all the issues can be discussed with the full attention of all participants," Morrell said.

"We hope to reschedule this meeting as soon as conditions are more conducive to achieve the important objectives at hand."

Morrell is travelling with US Defence Secretary Robert Gates, who on Monday called for Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf to return his country to a constitutional democracy.

"We urge President Musharraf to return his country to a law-based, constitutional and democratic rule as soon as possible," Gates told reporters in Beijing.

Gates described the developments, in which Musharraf over the weekend declared a state of emergency and suspended the constitution, as "disturbing".

But he emphasised that any US actions against Pakistan should have no impact on global efforts to fight terrorism.

"We are reviewing all our assistance programmes (to Pakistan), although we are mindful not to do anything that would undermine counter-terrorism efforts," said Gates, after a meeting with Chinese Defence Minister Cao Gangchuan.

AFP: US suspends defence talks with Pakistan: Pentagon

Maybe they couldn't fly to Pakistan because PIA is on strike ?

 

[Spring Onion]

They said they will resume talks soon

dont forget their low tons

indeed Musharraf learned to use his cards wisely.

good going after all every nation needs to gaured own intrests

 

[Cheetah786]

I read the quote from the White House conference 100 million every month, and I do know the what the salary of a general is, its 2 million dolars each, I read this up in a book.

Wow you are good but 100million a month is for logistical support.(like a good politician u skip that part)

 

[Cheetah786]

They said they will resume talks soon

don't forget their low tons

indeed Musharraf learned to use his cards wisely.

good going after all every nation needs to guard her own interest

Actually under there sanctions we were heading in the right direction self reliance.